Sunday night's full house at the Theatre Royal welcomed the first staging of the Genée competition in Scotland with the whooping enthusiasm you would normally associate with heart-throb pop stars.
But then, the hope is the young finalists - 12 of them, chosen from more than 50 semi-finalists representing 15 countries - will, in time, be the shining stars in our ballet companies.
Three separate categories tested their mettle. All 12 first had to perform the Into The Unknown variations commissioned from choreographer Robert Binet, set to music by Prokofiev played live by pianist Wen Yan Ho. Woven into his two short solos - a male variation and a female variation - were subtle changes of pace and dynamic, with lyric phrases morphing into almost-robotic angularities.
The second section saw the dancers free to perform their own (new) choreographies while the last part was the Classical Repertoire Variation - solos from existing choreographies by Petipa, Ashton, MacMillan and others - with its demanding emphasis on technique, musicality and expression. Jonathan Still was the pianist for this element.
While the jury - Darcey Bussell, Kevin O'Hare (director, Royal Ballet) and Christopher Hampson (artistic director, Scottish Ballet) - deliberated backstage, the audience was treated to two potently different duets by Scottish Ballet dancers Brenda Lee Grech and Victor Zarallo, and Bethany Kingsley-Garner and Remi Andreoni.
In the event, no Gold Medal was awarded. Silver went to Sasha Leong (Australia) and Isabelle Brouwers (Germany) while Bronze was awarded to Rory Ferguson (Australia), John Rhys Halliwell (UK) - who also won the Audience Choice Award - and Natasha Watson, the only Scottish dancer in the finals. Padua Eaton (UK) won the Dancer's Own Choreographic Award (sponsored by Mondor) for her sparky solo, Computer Virus.
The 2014 competition will be held in Antwerp.
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